Explosive Reactive Armor: Fighting Explosions with Explosions

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[@megaprojects9649]

Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this video! Head to keeps.com/SIMON to get a special offer. Individual results may vary

[@alexlangridge6633]

Second

[@MrJch24]

Cool Video idea thanks.

[@genericscottishchannel1603]

nah, take my hair

[@farmcat9873]

@@genericscottishchannel1603 thats what im saying i got tired of cutting it every month to 2 months so its been 2 years and long AF and it just is HORRIBLE to take care of I cant win PLZ take mine to

[@tasman006]

Good vid but you mentioned but didn't talk about active protection systems. Isreal has created and tested in combat thier trophy protective system which they have had since about 2010. This was invented in direct response to the 2006 Lebonon war. They lost in combat and some tanker deaths of Merkava 2, Merkava 3 and thier latest Merkava IV tanks back then by Hezbollah welding RPG 29 and Russian Kornet ATGM with dual warheads. In 2014 protective Edge was the first large engagement of the Trophy system and they intercepted all missiles fired at them and lost no tanks. In the latest conflict more we will have to wait how the trophy system preformed as the conflict is still ongoing but I've noticed Hamass vids stopping just after they have fired an RPG not seeing the end result. A lot of Western countries the US, Germany, UK ect can and are installing this and other APS systems on thier latest tank and armoured APCs, IFVs now and in the future. I don't know why the Russians havn't installed thier latest Afghanit APS which is on the Armarta tank which they havn't sent to Ukraine. But havn't installed it on thier latest T90M or T89BVM tanks. All I can think is this system doesn't work as advertised or they don't have the roubles to install them.

[@XiaoAnon]

Is no one else fascinated by Simon's apparent exfiltration from the basement? Is that his country Dacha in the background? His Billion dollar Palace near Sochi?

[@WackadoodleMalarkey]

Keith Olbermann podcasts from his suit closet

[@cgoad]

The writers were revolting in the office basement. Probably in both senses of the word.😂

[@user-sr7rc5yg9k]

I am really worried for the writers in the basement, is someone checking in on them whilst Simon is away? Danny needs fresh water or his word count starts to drop and that leads to intro's dropping to less than 45 mins in length!!!

[@alexisjuillard4816]

​@@user-sr7rc5yg9kdon't worry simon hired me to care for them full time. Its actually more complicated then you seem to realize, the "basement" is actually the name of the entire err shall we say accommodation rent free no charges complex. Its free so and as simon told me he didn't have the money to feed them daily, its difficult to care for them. I did though remove 2 or the 3 pairs of handcuffs he had on danny and the 110db death metal music he keeps just under then physical pain threshold but "keeps them from napping sleeping and helps them focus". I found those conditions to be pretty luxurious until i realized no i'd been refused for the child molester supervisor role and those were paid employes. So i had a chat with simon, he now lowered the music to 100db which is 10x less loud but still way too much, so he aggreed to have a 15 minute break of silence so they could have their "fking sleep, next time they'll ask for gold plated cuffs " direct quote. I also got simon to allocate a huge amount of what his (disclosed) finances were, above 10 euros, 11.21€ per day for their needs. Turned out that divoded by 76 it doesn't buy a whole lot so i tapped in the local sewage with simons blessing and iv'ed those fuckers so they would stop with their " i can't work with 1 bottle for 11 days" entitled bullshit. Also for the time, took simon stock of never opened never will athletic greens (yeah he's bs you about those products i think he did try hello fresh but puked it out and served it to danny) which was a LOT, mixed them with more sewer water and had an iv programmed to deliver 2 times a day. So they are very well kept for and will not escape again

[@lady_draguliana784]

My favorite countermeasure is just "cage". "Cage, you can climb it, hang stuff on it, stuff it with junk to be carried, and it'll force an RPG to detonate before contacting your plating, disrupting the focal point of it's shaped charge! Cage, get yours today!"

[@Cauldronb0rn]

I don’t know why but I just find the ERA bricks aesthetically pleasing. Even on the old T72s where they’re just slapped on willy nilly.

[@bjkarana]

I thought I was the only one that thought that.

[@charlesdorval394]

It's the "okay that tinbox is safe now" look hehehe

[@WackadoodleMalarkey]

It's like a motorcycle (or, fair enough autocorrect, mitochondria..) purely made for functional use but is beautiful because and nonetheless of that

[@joshreichardt2485]

"Ya know how you fight explosions with more explosions." My Uncle Dave before he was hospitalized after throwing an M80 at Roman Candle

[@WaywardVet]

The weight is no joke. If you thought the Bradley was a bit unweildly before you install it, wait until you're done. (And yes, you have to install your own, your motorpool won't do it for you.)

[@jacklucas5908]

The funny explosive bricks!

[@pieterveenders9793]

The forbidden Lego/Duplo!

[@wertguy12000]

I'm amazed at how much this guy can understand a pretty much any topic pretty deeply and explain it well. However, there were a couple issues with the viddeo: 1. Forgot to mention that relikt ERA is designed to counter tandem warheads by being insensitive to the first charge (whether it's actually effective saving the tank is another matter). 2. Electric armor sounds good on paper, but you also have to take into account how much more complex and heavy you'll be making the tank with how much wiring that goes in, along with all the electrical systems needed for it to function. 3. Mention the difference between kinetic and chemical rounds (he uses the animations interchangeably)

[@jasonrhodes9726]

He is pretty wrong about it. Reactive armor blocks are to stop HEAT rounds. The explosion of the HEAT round against the reactive armor block sets off a counter explosion. The expanding gases disrupts the formation of the shaped charge jet. Instead of letting the slug of liquid metal strike the tank armor and burn through, it blows it into a mist that just makes a mess on the outside of the tank. Adding very hard ceramics or using uranium plates stops the shaped charge jet by having a much higher melting point. Uranium penetrate without exploding and just zip right through. The angeled plates are to try to defect the uranium dart, but isn't that effective.

[@voidtempering8700]

​​@@jasonrhodes9726It is clear you don't understand how ERA works either Edit: In fact, you are far more wrong than Simon.

[@jays.6843]

He doesn't understand anything he reads. He's only a host reading from a script.

[@ryanroberts1104]

@@jays.6843 Yeah, I don't understand why people make dumb comments like this. He's like the guy on the news. He is reading a teleprompter, none of these are his words, and he would probably fail a quiz of his own video. He openly admits that he usually does not retain this information...

[@voidtempering8700]

@@jasonrhodes9726 You are wrong on essentially every point. 1. ERA can stop both kinetic and HEAT based penetrators 2. The explosion is not what is used to disrupt the jet, it is the flyer plates that are launched from the explosion that causes this. Even basic preliminary research into ERA would lead to this, because EVERY kind of ERA works like this(except Nozh, Duplet, Monolith, and a few other token ERA) which launch EFP into the incoming penetrator. 3. At this point, you are just making things up. A HEAT jet does not burn through armor. In fact, heat has nothing to do with how it penetrates armor. It uses the Munroe effect to shoot a jet of metal at extremely high speeds, the jet acts like a kinetic penetrator. 4. It is not the hgih-heat tolerance of armor that defeats kinetic penetrators, it is their density and arrangement. HEAT jets are affected significantly when they hit multiple different materials that are spaced out, same with kinetic penetrators. There is a reason modern tanks have composite armor arrays that are typically over 700mm LoS thickness, with a variety of armor arrays that resemble the same basic shape. - initial thick layer of steel - NERA/composite array(more modern tanks use NERA as their composite armor array, this is non-explosive reactive armor, and typically involves some kind of rubber to bulge when hit by a penetrator, which performs similar to how ETA works, but much less effective. But because it is non-explosive, an NERA array can have over a dozen such plates in it. Others use different mechanics for NERA, but those are typically classified. Such layers also have an air gap between each layer to help enhance resistance of a penetrator. - back plate made of hard steel. Please don't spread misinformation on the Internet.

[@brandonlm0125]

I’m still 12 in my head… I laughed at “banana shaped rods”.

[@arthas640]

same

[@EdMcF1]

Is this a reaction video?

[@thisguyagain7857]

On an IBS level.

[@charleslisauskas9067]

😑

[@dreamCatV6]

reacting to a reaction to a reaction....

[@nathansmith1085]

I see what you did and you win

[@Anglomachian]

Well done.

[@andreawallenberger2668]

I'm just here for Simon's voice tbh.

[@deathbeforedishonor9012]

ERA is also pretty deadly to the crunchies outside the tank

[@herptek]

Because it is dangerous to people nearby, it is often not used in IFVs or tanks that are meant to be fighting alongside dismounts.

[@ReymartGregPayonga]

If an RPG hits a tank without ERA do you want to be next to that?

[@Kinzarr4ever]

@@ReymartGregPayonga No, but chances are most of the explosion is going to be directed in to the tank and depending on the exact details of the situation (armor of the tank, warhead on the RPG, distances) you might be at less risk.

[@martinstallard2742]

2:34 how to fight fire with fire 6:27 the drawbacks 9:15 Reactive armour variants

[@getgaijoobed6219]

8:16 true but not entirely so: there are a few ERA systems such as the Russian Relikt and Chinese FY-III and FY-IV which are designed to defeat tandem shaped-charge warheads by using a more stable explosive and thicker plates

[@soggycracker5934]

You gotta realize, Electric Reactive would be DEVESTATING to anything nearby. The energy needed to PLASMIFY A TUNGSTEN AND URANIUM ROD would be insanely high, and that flash explosion would release... Well, a shitton of energy.

[@FlyWithFitz81]

"fighting explosions with explosions"... Sounds like Frank and Bean night at the Frat.

[@garyclark3843]

Blazing Saddles.

[@jeffduncan9140]

​@@garyclark3843😂😂😂😂

[@charlesdorval394]

It's not lost Simon, it just migrated down to offer you that glorious beard :P

[@garyclark3843]

For protection, use rubber.

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

Electric reactive armor would need a massive power source.

[@Umski]

Warp core?

[@iandennis7836]

Probably a small fusion unit ......as in David Drake's "hammers slammers ".......so a looong way off.

[@WackadoodleMalarkey]

Ah good it can go on our grandchildren's bipedal assault mecha

[@Apr0x1m0]

IMO biggest problem is not a energy source small enough to prod high power, 5MW SMRs are close to fitting in a tank, but the charge time between hits (assuming you dont want a 'one and done' setup). But also, youd have to go nuclear to power that reliably making lost tanks a HUGE problem.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Another electromagnetic altermative to ERA uses layers of plates of electromagnetic metal with silicon on alternate sides. The damage to the exterior of the armour passes electricity into the plates, causing them to magnetically move together. As the procesa is completed at the speed of electricity the plates are moving when struck by the projectile, causing the projectile energy to be deflected whilst the energy is also dissipated in parting the magnetically attracted plates.

[@417jumps3]

Awesome vid Simon!!!

[@thesarcasticliberal]

It's actually very amusing that both the concept of ERA, and the only battle-proven Active Protection System (APS), as well as the most advanced anti-tank missile in service today (the Spike family) were all developed by Israel. In a world where great powers are doing all sorts of proxy warfare and grand political chess-board plays, a country the size of New Jersey, with a population of 9.5 million, basically defined modern tank defensive technology. Also, turning every tank into what amounts to a tesla coil strikes me as an INCREDIBLY expensive, technologically depending and dangerous idea. Also, if there is a significant amount of salt in the area, coupled with moisture in the air, there could be some very bad accidental activations, as the ionized moisture creates Saint Elmo's Fire from hell inside of the tank.

[@seanb3516]

My Friend was Losing all of His Hair. He Begged His Doctor to Give Him something to Keep It In. His Doctor Gave Him a Box. :(

[@donaldbenjamin6358]

Would love to see a video on the Trophy tank protection system!

[@lecolintube]

Unrelated to the topic of this video - I really like the stylised cyan and magenta colour grading!

[@travismayes4547]

Another holiday video. Enjoy some free time my man.

[@psychomarto]

That cheeky War thunder screenshot :P

[@martcorn]

I wonder what went wrong with the russian ,"scrambler" that the T90's had . The big red discs where suppose to fry the circuits of incoming ATGMs

[@smac1706]

Simon left the basement! Holy shit! Buy a lottery ticket! 😂

[@atenas80525]

QUESTION - will molotov cocktails still work on a tank?

[@DIYToPen]

Tandem charge missiles require tandem charge ERA. Or... Connect the ERA's together so that upon one exploding the surrounding ERAs can apply a shaped blast after a short delay to knock the missile off course.

[@richardchilds3406]

If you put a system with enough electric charge to turn something in to plasma across the entire vechile then at least a couple guys will get electrocuted by it. Might not be worth the risk of mechanic casualties.

[@zkol3287]

Best defense is a great offense. Why take the hit, when you can hit the hit

[@FurtiveSkeptical]

Because eventually something will hit your "hitter".

[@SAyGOoDByEToOldLIfE]

The Xray shots of War Thunder got me off guarded 😂

[@paulbellingham3948]

For me the funniest fact is how it was discovered, tanks used for target practice with live rounds aboard

[@lasersimonjohnson]

NEW SET - Same old low playback quality intro music 😂

[@sparky7915]

New tank designs will have to have some protection from drone attacks.

[@cambreezy505]

Wow! Explosive reaction video

[@MrYaxalot]

Cages on the roof of tanks are not for tandem charge heat they are for top attack

[@JeffreyMartin]

You are an absolute beast! You must be the most prolific KZbinr in the Galaxy!

[@FatManWalking18]

new studio looks nice

[@andrewlloyd1558]

Electric armor? On the way towards an actual Tesla Tank. Welcome Back Commander.

[@Mrgunsngear]

🇺🇸

[@knifekitty_ls]

that bug zapper armor lol

[@tommeyer9391]

Electric reactive armor has great POTENTIAL. lol

[@charlesdorval394]

lmao

[@kaminari1028]

Simon looked and sounded sick

[@franklinplayz69]

JUST SLAP SOME ERA ON IT

[@wlan246]

12:08 Multi-hit capabilities, as long as the design prevents any debris, shrapnel, or bent plates, from creating a contact between the positive and negative plates-which would prevent the capacitor from recharging, thereby disabling the entire system.

[@srogamina]

you could present much, much more interesting things about different concepts of ERA, like ukrainian Nozh, polish ERAWA, more about heavy russian armors, like kaktus, problems with lighter vehicles, more about the construction of TUSK2. You played videos of APFSDS projectiles but talking mostly about HEAT, you could also mention about the efficiency against EFP and many many more :)

[@IslamMozaahe]

Can you make video about WW2 RC tanks or the first military dron in the world and they evolved

[@Cauldronb0rn]

When I read WW2 RC tanks I immediately thought of NASAs remote control Tiger II with a drill for a turret. They used it to safely pop aircraft tires.

[@scottmeredith3359]

I’ve finally watched enough Whistlerverse content to strike double-penetration off my bingo card

[@Seraphus87]

The use of ERA might possibly be one of the factors that lead to Russian tanks operating without or with insufficient accompanying infantry in the early phases of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, thereby leading to tank losses. The other being a lack of combined arms training and planning. I used to be in the infantry, and believe me, I would rather risk a court martial than run around close to a big, loud and partially explosive target- I mean tank.

[@MrLeo2A6]

That footage at 00:52 is the blow out hatch where the ammunition is stored on an Abrams it's not ERA. It's also not as efective with penetrator projectiles

[@mitchellbailey7030]

Nice “MMellow” music, new back ground and NEW BEARD COLOR🤷🏻‍♂️

[@TrainerCTZ]

Electric reactive armor aka Tesla Coil. Still schooling us 100 years later

[@jamesjdog]

Ah so this is what the FGM-148, Javelin is Up Against ~

[@farmcat9873]

@Megaprojects dont worry about it coming back Wish I didn have to worry about hair all it does is grow and ya gotta keep cutting it again and again and again I got so tired of cutting it that now I haven't in almost 2 years and now its getting close to 18 inches long

[@Stigstigster]

Well done for discovering hair.

[@Pure_Havoc]

friends were talking about reactive armor cuz of some meme a few weeks ago. me who served in the infantry: yea those things are scary

[@Elongated_Muskrat]

Firefighters with flamethrowers logic sometimes works.

[@deathbeforedishonor9012]

They did use jet engines to put out fires in Kuwait, it’s just a weird thought fight something with the said something lol

[@ScorpioNick]

Back burning, yes.

[@brs690]

As a firefighter I still want to use the fire paintball gun...

[@WormholeJim]

7:08 I like the updated tactical markings the russians have begun using. Much more apt and precise instead of that "'Z' for Zorglub" stuff they had goinmg at the onset.

[@JurassicJenkins]

9:35 What about using a cornstarch variant?

[@iainmcculloch5807]

It would probably have been better to explain the different types of anti-tank weapons before discussing ERA. It's great against standard HEAT (High-explosive anti-tank) rounds, and against HESH (high-explosive squash-head), but provides little or no protection against kinetic weapons like APFSDS long-rod penetrators.

[@MiH1IT]

So many videos... seems like you plan a vacation and set up videos to release over next few days, but accidentally released them all at once :D

[@cspaliwal_]

"Your hearing disability is not service related"

[@megalonoobiacinc4863]

i don't see the reason for discussing reactive armor without mentioning the main threat its supposed to disrupt: shaped charges! I'm not big into military magic but i don't think there is much else it is made to counter, and a shaped charge is less of an explosion and more of an energy lance.

[@michaelbarnard8529]

There is a reason the US doesn’t us ERA. Anyway, you don’t actually understand how it works. First you have to understand shaped charges, and how they defeat armor. It’s effect on sabot rounds is a side effect.

[@voidtempering8700]

I guess ARAT just doesn't exist. Same with the Bradley armor packages which primarily rely on ERA.

[@davidriley8520]

Oh no! You've fallen for the "must be seen with a Shure SM7" trend - Your sound was fine, and more even across the low end - now you can hear the variable proximity effect !

[@MisterCOM]

9:14 lets ignore the challenger with the cope cage

[@Hobomcfluffernutter]

dont know how the hell they can make an armor that can melt a tungsten dart round but i dont doubt that the US R&D couldn't 🤣

[@dfa9305]

Need a trophy system video next

[@chaotic854]

Brother with that beard you could easily run for office in Iran.

[@Swiftkitten88]

"hast been invented yet" is probably US military terms for "we've been using it for 10 years but we cant tell you because its classified.

[@christianjunghanel6724]

I thought the uss Gerald R Ford is useing something called ,"dynamic armor" which in turn is suposed to be something like the electric armor here described ! Or am i getting something mixed up?

[@jackvos8047]

9:45 Newtons third law

[@tra757200]

Just need a 1 megawatt generator to power the elect armor. Could use part of that megawatt to propel the tank. It would be loud though.

[@alexreitler]

The Abrams tank has a 1.2 MW turbine in it, 1MW is not that much, only like 1300hp

[@tra757200]

@@alexreitler I suppose most of that power is used to drive the tank. I guess they should up the turbine to produce 10MW, 1MW for the drive and 9 for the electric armor.

[@alexreitler]

@@tra757200 exactly, that's what I was implying. It's impractical with current technology

[@svenlima]

My wife also has an explosive reactive armor ... Very reactive and very explosive!

[@roy5815]

No, good sir, the cages on the top of the tanks being used by Russia in Ukraine and even Israel are not for tandem charges, they are for protection against top attack missiles. That is not to say that they are not expected to function as an added layer but modern anti-tank missiles and even drone usage targets the tops cz they are lightly armoured compared to the rest of the hull. So missiles like Javline fly up and then dive down. Drones simply drop ordinance. The cage creates a barrier several inches away to trigger the incoming ordinance, so even if they are shaped charges or tandem charges, they are literally physically too far away to do anything to the armour.

[@TalesOfWar]

The US had the bright idea of using this kind of armour on their Bradley's in Iraq... with infantry support. Yeah. Shrapnel + squishy infantry = bad times. But then they also used Abrams with infantry support right behind them too. You know, the exhaust area. For their JET turbine engines.

[@f36443]

Exaust is not very hot, it passes through heat exchangers before being expelled. Smells like a helicopter and leaves you smelling of fuel.

[@exstacc1886]

I think to muster the electricity required for electric armor, you'd need a nuclear reactor in the back. So nuclear tanks, uparmored, uptracked since i guess its nuclear powered anyway, and a system to prevent the current from reaching the interior of the tank because that'd be a comical manmade horror beyond our comprehension

[@juustokasajuustokasa6109]

Im not sure Keeps is getting their moneys worth on these sponsorships considering Simon's nice flat smooth dome.

[@boristhedespot3473]

I am suprised simon dosent do ads for wigs

[@ZAB_Nailz]

I’m going to keep asking until I get a response; who let Simon out of the second floor of the basement?

[@bbsp_airsoft]

wouldnt the electric armor also be completely useless if they just put a non conductive outer layer on the warheads?

[@pirobot668beta]

There was a time when Soldiers would march closely along-side tanks. The Soldiers protect the tanks, the tanks protect the soldiers. With systems like reactive armor and 'Trophy', Soldiers keep their distance from the tanks if they value their lives. 'Trophy' sprays shrapnel at incoming warheads, causing them to detonate. It's lethal to personnel out to 50 meters. Reactive armor is lethal out to 20 meters...immense concussion and some shrapnel. These systems give the tank some measure of protection, but are lethal to nearby troops.

[@stalkingtiger777]

Did factboi finally get let out of the basement?

[@Progection]

3:12 Fail ! That is slat/spaced armor that deforms the rpg-7 warhead and compromises it's ability to form the armor penetrating jet of molten metal, no Explosive reactive elements. 4:56 That is a failure and is not survivable - soviet tanks are all designed with central carousel ammo storage, that cooks off and sometimes tosses turret into orbit.

[@seanstevens8416]

POLARIZE THE HULL PLATING

[@psykosis101]

You got a link to that research paper factboi?

[@DouglasJWalker]

We have all heard of dud ammo. So how reliable can this be?

[@Oh-God-Of-All-Creation]

How many channels does bro have??

[@xessenceofinsanityx]

Wait are we seeing factboi's HOUSE?

[@thisguyagain7857]

His 2nd family's house.

[@xessenceofinsanityx]

@@thisguyagain7857 Two families? In THIS economy?

[@sarge1408]

These sheilds make tanks *Fuckin invincible!*

[@Kinzarr4ever]

Until a better weapon comes along.

[@FurtiveSkeptical]

Until the 2nd projectile hits that spot.

[@eldridgep2]

There are clips of Russian trucks in Ukraine strapping Kontakt-1 to the windscreen of trucks..... More is not always better the back blast from the armour is just as likely to kill you as the warhead or indeed any other impact.

[@fraserfulton.1432]

Is it armour that reacts by exploding

[@ryateo1]

Reactive armor isn't for kinetic rounds. It disrupts the standoff needed for a shape charge to properly work.

[@Cauldronb0rn]

It works for both. It was intended for shape charge protection but because of the way it works it also offers some extra protection from kinetic rounds.

[@Nikowalker007]

The original purpose of ERA was to protect tanks against RPGs and ATGMs that were so prevalent in Soviet Afghan war

[@MrBrew4321]

I remember darpa saying they were going to develop an effective force field for tanks, basically lasers were going to detect the incoming rocket and then.... "something" was going to activate around the tank, their demo had like a curtain shooting some explosives down the side of the tank but the "force field" only lasted for the length of an explosion which wasn't deemed great.

[@rubiconnn]

That was an early form of APS, or active protection system called Iron Curtain APS. I'm pretty sure it was abandoned. The US doesn't have a widespread APS system but they usually use Trophy APS from Israel on some of their vehicles.

[@tylerj.6973]

Simons house?!?!?

[@lyleslaton3086]

It doesn't matter when the rocket comes down on the roof of the tank.

[@lulumthy4702]

Do you add a audio piste in french?

[@martinh2783]

Working from home or a new office?